Chihiro's Return
by PurelyDelicate
Summary: 8 years after her time in the spirit world, Chihiro is finishing up her high school life. Working a part time job at a traditional style hot spring inn, she spends her time dreaming about the past. As most her classmates plan their lives after high school, our heroine searches for a way to return to the one place she feels she belongs.
1. Chapter 1

A young girl stared out the window of her classroom, her dark eyes gazing at a field in the distance. Her long brown hair fell gracefully over her shoulders, her bangs framing her round face. She wore a typical school uniform for summer, a short-sleeved white shirt with blue ribbon and a skirt that fell just above her knees. She sighed longingly as she watched the clouds travel through the sky, her mind wandering to places only she knew about. Suddenly she felt a light poke on her arm and she felt herself being pulled back from her daydreams, her hair swaying as she turned her head swiftly to her right.

"Chihiro, you're only going to grow stupider if you continue to spend your days daydreaming" Her friend teased from beside her, she laughed quietly and shook her head.

"I know I know, but this part of the lesson is so boring!" Chihiro smiled slightly, wishing the day could be over. Her friend, Hana, was going to respond when the teacher glanced in their direction. Always quick to call upon troublemakers he asked Chihiro to stand and read the next page. Her cheeks flushed slightly, she hadn't been listening for at least a few pages, and so she had no idea where she was supposed to read. After a quick scolding, and a few chuckles from her classmates, the day continued as any other.

The classes passed, with many more opportunities for daydreaming, and Chihiro joked with her friends. Luckily it was already the second half of the day, so it wasn't too much longer they were forced through this torture. When the final bell rang, the students all shuffled out of the building quickly, grabbing their bags and switching their shoes. Finally they could feel the warm sun on their faces, and they no longer had to sit in those annoying desks.

"Aaaah" Hana sighed and spun in a quick circle, stretching her arms and facing the sun "I can't wait till summer when we can do nothing but laze around! I'm going to go to the beach and lay in the sand for hours upon hours." Chihiro laughed, she too couldn't wait for these long days in the classroom to come to a halt, even if it was only for a short break. "What are your plans for the summer, Chihiro? Are you going anywhere fun?"

"Not this time, I'm just planning on working at the inn." For the last few years Chihiro had taken up a job at a traditional hot spring inn. She would work whenever she had free time, and her friends never seemed to understand why she seemed to enjoy such a grueling job.

The work required her to clean the baths on her hands and knees, fill the baths, serve the guests, and many other tasks. It was not easy work, and she had callused hands from all the scrubbing of the baths. She loved this job though, claiming it reminded her of something from her childhood. She had moved here from a larger city though, and that only furthered made her friends question her.

She had always been different. From the moment she moved her, she seemed obsessed with an abandoned theme park nearby, and was always looking up stories on spirits. She was distant, always daydreaming and watching the clouds. For that reason she had few friends, Hana being her closest, and she tended to keep to herself.

Though most girls their age, only 18 years old, seemed focused on boys or their futures, Chihiro was focused on returning to her past. She did seem to have a boy she cared greatly for, one she had talked about since her move here, but he never appeared to visit, and no one had even seen her call him. Some believed he was just an imaginary friend Chihiro made up to help her loneliness from moving.

"Of course! You're always working, Chihiro, why won't you just take a break and have some fun! Come to the beach with me, I promise it'll be better than cleaning some bath and serving old people on vacation!" Hana playfully grabbed onto Chihiro's arm, almost causing her to trip as they walked towards their homes. Chihiro merely smiled and shook her head

"I like serving old people. Plus cleaning the baths really isn't that bad, and I get paid! It's not like I'm being forced to do it." Her eyes seemed to disappear into her own mind once more as a distant look crossed her face. Hana laughed loudly and pushed her lightly.

"There you go again! Spirited away into your private world! Well fine, I will just have to laze around for the both of us then" The girls continued their playful talk as they finished the walk home. Parting at an intersection they agreed to meet up as usual in the morning.

When Chihiro walked into her house, she gently kicked her shoes off at the door. Placing her bag down and stepping onto the cold wooden floors she peered around the corner. She called out into the quiet house, knowing her parents weren't home. "Haku! I'm home"


	2. Chapter 2

Chihiro heard a soft thud hit the ground from a room down the hall. She smiled slightly to herself and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. On her wrist was a beautiful purple hair tie, which seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that filled the room; her smile grew slightly as she used this to keep her hair in place.

The hair tie itself was proof of her past, and for the last 8 years she had clung to it for a reminder that she had not imagined the world she longed for. She had spent only a short amount of time in that magical place, but she could never shake the feeling that it was where she belonged.

Chihiro walked into the kitchen, hearing a soft bell jingle from behind her. When she turned around a small cat sat in the doorway, his green eyes gleaming for food. He was white, with gray specks, and seemed to hold an air of authority, as most cats did.

"I know, I know, you're hungry, huh?" She chuckled softly and bent down to gently stroke the cat's head. He leaned into her touch and purred in contentment with his owner finally being home. "Were you lonely while I was gone?" She walked over to where his bowl lay on the floor and took down a bag of dry cat food to pour into it. "This summer I'll take you to the bathhouse, I bet you'll catch lots of mice there, huh Haku?" The cat rubbed into her legs and merely went straight for the food. He had his priorities, and listening to plans for summer, wasn't one of them.

Chihiro patted Haku's head one more time and then walked from the kitchen into her own room. The room itself was medium sized, filled with only a bed, dresser, and desk. She didn't see the need for much more, but did have pictures scattered around. In one frame was 10-year-old Chihiro, surrounded by her elementary school friends, and leaning on it was a card she had received the day she moved to this town. In the next frame was a picture of the old amusement park she seemed so obsessed it, the main focus being the old bathhouse.

She had spent many days at that amusement park, wandering through the empty buildings, even finding an entrance into the bathhouse. It had been stale smelling, and completely empty. She cried the first time she saw that.

From her memories, the bathhouse was busy and noisy, the only smell being that of soap, or maybe a radish spirit walking by. She couldn't return to that version of it, though, no matter how many times she tried. She had done everything she thought might bring her back, from staying there all night, to even doing strange calls upon the spirit realm. Nothing worked. That didn't make her lose hope though, for she knew, the boy she missed the most, had promised he would return.

Haku the cat came padding lazily into the room, drawing her back to reality. He hopped up onto her bed, curling into a small ball, tossing a glare her way. "You really are like Haku. So cold at times, but soft-hearted and loving all the same" She laughed and sat down at her desk, opening some schoolwork she had to get done before summer.

The day passed quickly, her parents arrived home, and they had dinner as usual. The conversations were idle, merely each person stating how their days had been. The normal nightly routine passed by quickly, and Chihiro was soon fast asleep in bed.

When she awoke in the morning she readied herself quickly for school. She was running later than usual so she had no time to attempt to tame her hair (having slept on it wet it seemed to have a mind of its own) and she resorted to pulling it into the high ponytail she once wore everyday. She left with toast for breakfast and met Hana at their usual intersection.

Again the conversations they held were pointless, only a way to pass time, and it wasn't long before the school day was coming to an end. Chihiro waved goodbye to her friends at the school, and Hana walked home alone, while she set off for work.

The inn was a ways away from the school, so Chihiro had to take a bus to get there. She kept to herself, but watched the passengers who filled it. When she reached her destination she was greeted by a few other attendants and she was quick to change.

Her work clothes were a traditional outfit, baggy pants, and a matching top. This time, though, they were actually the correct size. She rolled up the legs of the pants and got straight to work.

The first step was cleaning the baths, the guests would be using them around 6 that night, and no one wanted to have to soak in the grime of the last bath. The attendants of this inn, Chihiro included, would split up and get straight to work.

Since Chihiro was still a student, on the days she had class she would have to arrive with half the days work being completed. When she first started working here she would feel quite guilty for this, but now that time has passed she's realized that even just half a days work is extremely important.

After the cleaning and helping to serve each guest their dinners Chihiro was able to take a break. She sighed and slumped down into a chair in the break room, rubbing her hands gently. As she relaxed her boss walked in, glancing quickly around the room before making her way to where Chihiro sat.

"Chihiro, are you still planning on working here over your summer break?" Chihiro stood when her boss approached her, bowing slightly. She nodded her head excitedly.

"Of course! I couldn't think of a better way to spend my break." She smiled warmly, her dark eyes glistening. Her boss laughed, gently placing her old hand on Chihiro's arm.

"Even I was never as enthusiastic about this work as you are! You're a gift, dear girl." The old woman shook her head, her gray hair tied into a tight bun. "I have an opportunity for you, though. As you approach graduation I'm sure you've thought about what you wish to do. If you want to continue this work as an attendant then I truly believe you should intern at a larger inn, one that gets a steadier flow of customers and can show you more of what this job can be." Chihiro nodded along as the woman spoke. "We have been asked to send an attendant to one of these such larger inns for the summer, they need the extra help, and I was hoping you'd like to try to it out." The woman's smile beamed, she seemed so proud to be able to send her youngest, and hardest working attendant to work at a large inn.

Chihiro wasted no time in agreeing, if she would be working all summer she might as well do it in a place she hasn't been. She had a strange feeling this summer would contain something she isn't expecting, and couldn't wait to begin it.


End file.
